Fertility Acupuncture 101: Tools of the Trade - Needles!

Posted on Oct 12, 2014 1:50pm PDT

So let's get to the elephant in the fertility clinic waiting room…needles.

Fertility patients are already familiar with needles. It seems like they
are everywhere we look – at the doctor's office when we are
getting blood levels for all those confusing hormones, at home when we
inject our meds…do we really want to seek them out in our spare time?

The needles used by an acupuncturist are incredibly thin and flexible,
more akin to a hair brush bristle than they hypodermic you probably have
in mind. Needles are inserted into specific and individualized points
in the body to help distribute the flow of energy in the body. Acupuncture
needles induce the release of neurotransmitters and endorphin that in
turn help to direct blood flow and induce the stress response. Most experience
the insertion of these needles as either painless or a slight pinch. Once
placed there is often a deep sense of relaxation and rest.

Needles are among the most ancient of TCM tools, the first ones were made
with shards of bone. Your practitioner may also use other more modern
tools during your sessions. These include the use of electro-stimulation
machines to provide greater stimulus through the needles (used extensively
in fertility acupuncture to stimulate uterine blood flow) and a special
kind of lamp, called a TDP lamp. This light bulb in this lamp emits ultraviolet
light through a mineral-coated plate. The therapeutic benefits of TDP
treatment are thought to include increases in microcirculation and improved
immune response.

In our next blog we will discuss the specific treatment recommendations
for different fertility diagnosis.